Such a random title
- Eren S.
Monday came, and, surprisingly, went pretty smoothly. Gamzee had contacted Sollux, and told him the situation, Sollux, in turn, found out that Karkat had run into Nepeta and Equius, and managed to contact them to let them know all that was going on. And in the morning, right before his first class, Nepeta apologized to Karkat for not saying anything about it. Sollux, on the other hand, seemed to avoid the group, in fact it was like he simply disappeared. Every text was either ignored, or sent back a reply stating that he was busy.
Karkat didn't want to see him anyway, out of everyone who was involved. . .
Sollux lied the most, and the longest.
It wasn't that easy to just forget. Three sweeps was a long time, six 'years' by human standards. Three sweeps Karkat had been left completely in the dark with nothing but nightmares for clues, but he had something now, and he was damn determined to find out what had happened that caused his memory blackouts. But the thing about the whole situation, was that he was scared too. Scared out of his mind. What could be horrible enough to make someone forget their entire life? Sollux could have helped him when it first started, helped him get over it while it was still fresh and able to heal correctly. Because now it was a huge, jagged wound, festering with rot.
Nepeta and Equius came over and sat with him and Gamzee at lunch now, Jade and John did too. Tavros went to a nearby school, so he could only join them for lunch on weekends, but he promised he'd show up when he could.
Tuesday went by a lot better, things had calmed down, started to fall into a rut. Sollux still avoided the group, managing to keep busy at all times of the day with his classes. The two humans of the group somehow ended up helping the trolls with their classes. Some of them anyway, obviously they couldn't help with Strife 101, but they did still start this weird, study group during lunch by Tuesday. Karkat had also given up some of his time both Monday and Tuesday to help jade with her frog breeding project. For as annoying as she and John were when he first met them, they seemed to be a bit more bearable each time he saw them. John was still the most idiotic, brain-numbing, asinine shit-for-his-think-pan human Karkat had ever talked to. Jade was somewhat bearable, a little quirky and clueless, but she wasn't so horrendously stupid, at least.
Wednesday, school was going just as fine.
Until a student committed suicide during lunch, jumping off one of the dorm buildings to their death, right in front of the door.
All classes were canceled for the rest of the week until further notice.
Gamzee sat in the branches of what he had now claimed to be, his favorite tree. He was alone for the first time in days. Between splitting up his time between classes, Karkat, the other highblood's, and the weird study sessions the humans instigated, he had only ever had alone time at night before he went to sleep. Though he did stay up rather late catching up with Tavros through the chat client. They had even planned to meet up on Friday night so that the Summoner could show him where he worked, and introduce him to this supposedly cool dude.
It was a certain Taurus that he texted to now, from his perch in the branches.
AT: sO, sOMEONE JUST, uH, kILLED THEMSELVES,
TC: YeAh bRo, ThEy dEcIdEd tHeY'D AlL GeT SoMe hAnG TiMe tHrOuGh tHe sKy. I GuEsS ThAt mOtHeRfUcKeR ReAlLy wAnTeD To fLy.
AT: i'M PRETTY SURE THAT'S, nOT WHAT THEY WERE DOING,
AT: i'M ALMOST POSITIVE THEY, kILLED THEMSELVES ON PURPOSE,
TC: WhY WoUlD A FuCkEr aLl uP AnD Do tHaT?
AT: i, uH, dON'T REALLY KNOW,
AT: wE'RE THEY TROLL OR HUMAN,
TC: I'M NoT In tHe kNoW.
AT: oH, oKAY, sO WHY AREN'T YOU WITH KARKAT,
TC: I WaS TrYiNg tO FiNd hIm, BuT ThEn i pAsSeD By mY WiCkEd tReE, aNd tHe mOtHeRfUcKeR WaS BeInG AlL BoSsY. aSkInG Me tO GeT My cLiMb gOiNg aNd i wAs aLl... ShIt, I CaN'T Be rUdE AnD IgNoRe sOmE WiCkEd cLiMb iNvItAtIoNs.
AT: sO YOU'RE, UH, iN A TREE,
AT: rIGHT NOW,
TC: YeAh bRo, I EvEn gOtTa a pReTtY SiCk vIeW Of tHe cAmPuS. wHaT WiTh mOsT Of tHe lEaVeS FrEeInG ThEmSeLvEs fRoM GrEeDy wOoD ArMs. : o )
AT: uH,
AT: hOW ARE YOU GETTING DOWN,
TC: MaN, i gOt nO FuCkInG ClUe. GuEsS We'lL HaVe tO WaIt aNd sEe wHeNeVeR It's aBsCoNd tImE.
AT: } : (
. . .
"For the last fucking time, I don't even know what the guy's gogdamn name is! Just because I found his body doesn't mean I know everything about what fucking happened!" This was the seventh time Karkat had to explain to these assholes with their cameras and notebooks and microphones.
Today had been going rather well, lunch was nice and peaceful, classes were going great.
And then on his way back to his dorm, he had paused outside the building for just a second.
Long enough for the human on the roof to decide it would be an awesome time to jump down right in front of him and splatter themselves everywhere and scare the ever living hell out of Karkat. He damn near had a heart attack, not to mention how he threw up upon realizing what was in front of him was a human body that had been crushed by the fall, some parts being reduced to jello.
And then, of course, he did what any logical person would do and called 911 for the police and the ambulance, even though the guy was obviously dead. Someone had called the local media, attention seeking bastards. He hated having deaths on the news. All it was, was making a fucking huge ass attention grab at someone's death that they didn't know. It was sickening to profit off someone's death, their suicide.
He just wanted to go in and hope for peace and quiet in his dorm, instead, he was stuck out here, being hounded by cameras and news anchors, gogdammit. The last thing he wanted to do was end up on the five o'clock fucking news.
The camera whores finally tore their attention from him to a so claimed 'best friend' who had showed up upon hearing of the death, going into theatrics about how it was so horrible and so unexpected and they were so happy all the time and how could this happen, and all that bullshit. Karkat was willing to bet that the girl who showed up barely knew him at all.
But at least it gave him a chance to sneak around to the side of the building, locate his window, and sneak into his dorm, that way he didn't have to cross the yellow police tape surrounding the body to get inside. He grabbed his bags, taking a handful of the stimulant pills to keep himself awake and aware, and then hopped back out his window, and headed back towards school grounds, attempting to avoid the news crews if at all possible.
His path, took him heading straight for particular tree.
Gamzee blinked a few times, narrowing his eyes at the figure that made it's unaware approach. A too wide smile slipping over his lips as the shape sharpened itself out to be none-other than the very troll Tavros had asked him about. Man, this was perfect, now he didn't have to play search and find for his bro. Really, by now he should have the other's schedule somewhat down... if it weren't for the fact that he still sometimes forgot his own classes. The Capricorn waited for those eyes to scan or move, or see him, but they stayed glued to that ground as Karkat walked. Well damn, guess he'd have to catch his bro's attention before he could get some talks and a question going.
So as Karkat got closer, Gamzee climbed lower, hooking his knees around one of the lower branches, tightening his stomach muscles and swinging backwards. The end result, had him swing upside down, right as Karkat was about to pass in front of the tree, mere feet from the other's face.
"Hey best friend!"
"HOLY JEGUS FUCKIN'!"
One second Karkat had finally gotten a moment of peace away from those news crews, and, of course, the second he looked up, he was met with a face barely inches from his own that seemed to have come out of nowhere. The result was him nearly screaming, and lurching backwards, ending up flat on his ass as he glared up at Gamzee.
"What the hell? Fucking scare me half to death why don't you?"
Gamzee laughed, he couldn't help it! Karkat's reaction had been funnier than a load of cluckbeasts in a dryer! The Capricorn's mirth slowed down to a chuckle though, when his happy vibrations caused the branch he was hanging from to groan with a warning. "Sorry bro, didn't mean to make your vascular pump reset. You just seemed all kinds of fucking disracted."
He continued to simply hang there, laughter still in those indigo eyes, "Where you navigating to?"
Karkat's glare hardened a bit at the other laughing at him, but as the Capricorn continued, he just scowled, getting up and dusting the dirt off his ass and pants and waiting for the other to stop, arms crossed and an impatient and somewhat irate look on his face.
"You don't just fall down from a tree, what the hell are you even doing in that thing anyway?" Karkat responded, not seeming to register Gamzee's last question at first, as it circled around in his mind. "Not really sure, probably to the strife gym. The dorms are hounded by those stupid news crews so it's impossible to get any peace and quiet there, so I was going to work on my sickles" He added, unzipping his jacket and holding out one of the flaps to show the two weapons nearly flawlessly hidden on the inside. With classes canceled for presumably the rest of the week to allow the police some chance to investigate the suicide, Karkat decided it'd be a good chance to go to the workshop in the Strife gym. Upgrade his weapons for next time Jarren decided it'd be a fun time to instigate another surprise duel. His leg had to be mostly healed by now.
His pride? Probably not so much.
Gamzee gave his head a tilt, a somewhat awkward action to do whilst hanging upside down, as Karkat showed him that he had brought his sickles with him to do what he said he was doing. "Wicked, mind if I get my tag-a-long going? I've got some energy getting it's electrical impulses in my veins, I can do some lap running's and shit while you work on your slicers," at that point he tensed his abdominal muscles and curled, using most of his strength there to lift himself back to the branch, before latching his hands around the wood to get himself the rest of the way up. The branch shook and creaked dangerously while Gamzee adjusted, before jumping down to the ground, knees bending to absorb the impact, before he hopped to a stand beside Karkat with a smile.
"And I like being high up. It's like, I'm fucking closer to the Messiahs, can hear them buzzing happy in my mind better. Also get to have a motherfucking wicked view of the world."
"Upside down I'm more sure that fucking buzzing is the sound of your blood rushing to your think-pan, what's left of the damn thing anyway" Karkat pointed out as Gamzee readjusted himself and jumped down from the tree before that poor branch broke, Karkat was surprised it held out as long as it did, but then again, he'd really not want to deal with Gamzee having a concussion because he fell out of a fucking tree.
"And sure, not like there's much else to fucking do around here" Karkat replied, zipping his jacket back up and readjusting it so that the blades of his sickles didn't jab into his skin and poke him.
"Sweet," he smiled, slipping hands into his pockets and falling in step beside Karkat as they headed for the mentioned gym, apparently not even hearing the comment on himself having an near empty think pan. Gamzee paused for only a moment to glance over his shoulder at some lights flashing from the corner of his eye, hinted that one of the ambulances that had arrived was leaving. Man, he loved those noisy four wheel machines... he wondered if he could get some flashy lights put on Miss Mirth. Or some of that wicked neon. Shit, now he was getting himself excited, he knew what he was going to be doing Saturday!
But now for the present, he actually had some questions to ask Karkat while they headed to the gym. "After you get some slice metal tinkering done, mind relocating with me to the paint shop. I wanna show you your magic painting, see if you want me to change anything on the motherfucker." As he walked, the Capricorn stretched his arms far in front of him until the bones on his spines popped, before locking his fingers behind his head with a small yawn. With such relaxed movements, it was somewhat hard to believe that he had 'energy getting it's electrical impulses' going in his veins.
"Sure, it might take a few hours though" Karkat muttered in a somewhat bored tone as the gym came within sight after only a few minutes of walking, thank gog the campus wasn't too badly spread out.
It did take a few hours, two and a half, to be exact, that Karkat spent fastening a thirteen foot long chain to the ends of his sickles. He had to sacrifice their compactness and folding ability that made them easier to carry around so that the chains could be hidden up in the handles until they were brought out, but he felt like in the long run, this would be worth it, plus the chain was as strong as the blades and could come in handy when blocking attacks.
Two and a half hours that Gamzee spent running around the gym, Karkat had been pretty damn sure he wouldn't have been able to do it for two hours straight, but somehow he managed. The smaller troll watched Gamzee run around the gym for two more laps, before finally stepping out of the doorway to the welding room, scythes back in his coat and hidden from view.
"Are you just about done yet, because I am"
Gamzee stumbled as Karkat's voice floated over to him, mostly because he hadn't been expecting it. Arms flailed out briefly as he managed to retain his balance, taking a few more steps before he came to a stop. Short bouts of breath passed from his lips, a light layer of sweat cooling his neck beneath the long sleeved shirt he wore. He kept straight, crossing his arms behind his head to allow air to come easier into his lungs. Man, he didn't think he would have been able to go for that long. His legs burned and were numb at the same time, lungs stinging slightly with each huffed breath. What an incredible feeling.
After he was able to get his breathing back to normal he looked back to Karkat with a small smile, jogging over to him to make sure his body didn't get any backlash from a sudden stop, literally being able to feel his heart rate gradually begin to slow it's thumping within his chest. "Yeah bro, I'm... ready to relocate. You got your know where... the arts building is?"
Karkat frowned, "No, I don't have any classes there so I never needed to know where it was." He didn't like painting, for various reasons, the main being that he wasn't very artistic, his talent in creativity lay more in words than anything else.
"Alright bro, I'll take, the motherfucking lead then."
They exited the gyms, Gamzee slipping his hands in jean pockets as they walked across the campus grounds once more. Their direction heading towards the theatre, though they wouldn't be going into that particular building, more-so the one directly next to it. It had one of those strange modern metal sculptures in front of it, with a pattern of variously shaped gears welded on it's upwards twisting surface. Really, it was no surprise Karkat didn't know where it was, even if he didn't have any arts classes. The building itself was significantly smaller than the large dome of the theatre, and was situated comfortably in the others shadow.
Inside, predictably, there were multiple paintings from students current and past, hanging on the walls. There sculptures of various size in small lobby, and mannequins with a multitude of outfits. The arts building, supported every form of creation in every possible form. Gamzee led the way up the first flight of dual sided stairs, that wrapped around the currently empty front desk. They continued to climb to the third floor, before the Capricorn directed them down one hallway to a room at the very end. When they reached the door, Gamzee dug around in his pockets, before pulling out a keychain with, predictably, a 2 dimensional mini capricious minstrel hanging from one of the rings.
Gamzee selected the gold tinted key, slipped it in the lock and turned, releasing the clasp that sealed the door, and pulling it open. "Teach gave all his students a key, just in case any of us motherfuckers wanted to work on our projects on the weekend," he briefly explained stepping into the classroom with paint from years gone by, stained on the floor.
The parts of the walls that didn't have shelves with paint cans and various shapes of paint brushes, were broken up into sections, so that students could hang their favored paintings up for display. It was fairly easy to see which part of the wall was claimed as Gamzee's, what with it being covered in circular spots. Currently, only three paintings on his section were up. One, a picture of his Goat Dad leaping through a large wave in the middle of a storm. The second, a rather frightening rendition of a a clown, too long clawed fingers running along the form of a questionable black shape. The final hanging picture, was rather simple, a ferris wheel, painted in a rainbow of colors with a bright red background. None of these Gamzee approached however, instead, he walked towards a partially covered piece in the back. A rolling shelf of canned paints of multiple shades and colors beside it.
The canvas itself was about six feet long, three fit high. Only part of it was painted, though unlike his other more vibrant pieces, this one was primarily done in warm earth tones. The primary focus of the picture, was focused on a sickle on the left hand side, a weapon near identical to Karkat's, the tip of it's blade just lodged into the ground of a cliff just before it dropped away. Around it's handle, a long strip of sharp red cloth, contrasting dark and then light against the setting sun behind it, stretched across the length of the canvas. In the background, a shoreline fading into the distance, with waves spraying up against the rocky surface, and if one were to look carefully, they might just be able to make out the shape of a crab-like lusus perched in the distance. The whole painting had it's base colors, though Gamzee had just started to shade and darken the lines separating the individual components. "Don't get your worry if there's anything you don't motherfucking like about. It'd still be pretty easy to get some modification going."
Honestly, the picture itself wasn't exactly Gamzee's cup of faygo. But the point of the painting wasn't to make something he liked, but something Karkat might like. If the Capricorn had made it to his personal likes, there would be significantly more vivid colors, and the presence of a few... odd accents.
Karkat's gaze lingered on the painting for a while. It was really good, far better than anything he'd be able to do with paint, but...
His gaze flickered to the other paintings in the room, the bright colors and subjects making it all too easy to know who had painted those ones, before coming back to the huge one in front of him. Colors and shit weren't exactly his thing, and he would prefer having something in his room that was more like this painting.
But he also wanted something that reminded him of Gamzee even if the other troll hadn't painted it. Truth be told, if you expect something long enough, you come to prefer it.
Oh gog he couldn't believe what he was about to say.
"I think it's good... but... it needs more colors"
Gamzee gave his head a tilt, glancing first to Karkat in mild surprise, before back to the painting. He blinked at it a few times, escaping into the jumpled think pan for a moment, his mind's eye brushing various colors over the base until he discovered a pattern that he believed would look wicked sweet. "Alright bro, I think I can get some honoring of that request. If you're not in the mind, I'll go ahead and brush some happy colors over it now while my pan still see's it." He straightened a bit, smile brushing over his face before he jogged over to the wall by the door, retrieving a rainbow stained apron and tying it comfortably at the back of his neck and waist. Not that it ever did much good.
Then he went on the hunt for a palette an the brushes he'd need, "Why don't you get some paint going brother? We got plenty of empty canvas in the storing closet."
"I'm not a fucking painter" Karkat retorted somewhat rudely, biting the inside of his cheek and giving that strange, pouting expression again. He didn't mind watching Gamzee paint, it gave him some time to think and, besides, what the fuck else was he going to do today?
"Awww, come on Karkat. Shit will be fun. You can paint whatever you fucking want. Your thinker is the limit, can you just... wrap that around how fucking miraculous that is. Like, the implications of that motherfucker being endless are crazy," and Gamzee was back in front of Karkat's gift painting, various paint cans at his feet of various spectrums, taking a little bit of liquid color from each one and placing it on his found palette. Smiling over his shoulder at Karkat's pouting expression. It was kind of interesting, he'd been seeing that face more and more. Man, his bro was seriously bad ass cute.